


Wise

by glassgoblin



Series: Random Rogues [60]
Category: Star Wars Legends: X-wing Series - Aaron Allston & Michael Stackpole, Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-07
Updated: 2015-02-07
Packaged: 2018-03-10 22:57:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3306467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glassgoblin/pseuds/glassgoblin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A conversation over a game.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wise

They had all had too much to drink, but that was to be expected after losing Ibtisam on their last mission. Wedge wasn’t feeling like being a good commander and stopping them, so he set up a sabaac game, convinced Mirax that a few bottles of whiskey, the good stuff, was necessary, and closed the pilots lounge to anyone but the Rogues. Some of the others had already left to get rest, or to comfort Nrin as he had taken the loss harder than anyone else. A small group remained though, and the alcohol seemed to have the effect of making Hobbie more inclined to answer personal questions and Tycho more inclined to ask them.

“So, Hobbie, what made you so wise that you bolted from the Imps so soon after the Academy?” Tycho was doing poorly at the game, which they could usually count on, but he was trying to distract he others as a last ditch attempt to salvage the hand.

Hobbie gave him a dirty look, “I only went to the Academy because I wanted to fly.” He stared down at his cards for a few seconds, “You know, Biggs always called me a ‘striver’ and we really didn’t get along at first. I had to be that way though, so I could get a good posting. Defecting would have been harder to do if I hadn’t as much authority as I was given on the Rand Ecliptic.” He shrugged and looked at Wes, waiting for his friend to lay down a bet.

Wes was looking at him instead of his own cards though, “Striver? As in ambitious and always following the rules? Was that really hard for you to pretend to be like that?” He grinned and Hobbie smacked his shoulder in mock annoyance.

“No, I can see Hobbie as the responsible type.” Tycho smirked, “Especially if he stays away from you, Wes. I keep telling Wedge that you are a bad influence on him, but he doesn’t believe me.”

Wedge was shaking his head, sipping his drink and watching his three friends. “I do believe you, I just thought that the bad influence was less important than the results that usually came from it.”

“What results? The bucket of foam they had over your doorway three weeks ago, or the time they painted spots on Luke’s X-Wing, or how about the time when they moved all of the furniture in the senior staff lounge into a storage closet and hosted a game of smash ball?” Tycho laid down a cautious bet, before looking up to see the other three all smiling.

“Those were good times. And yes, those results were good even though they eventually got into trouble.” Wedge set his drink aside to study his cards again, “I don’t know if I should tell you this, but I will anyway. When Luke was Rogue Leader he used to tell me that he worried about you, Hobbie and Tycho, because you were both quiet. Too quiet was how he put it. He thought that after losses like you’ve both had that the quiet ones are too self-destructive, and that Wes was a good influence on Hobbie if it kept him doing crazy stunts instead of putting himself into suicidal situations.”

“So was Tycho a lost cause, or did Luke see something else being an influence on him?” Wes was grinning, and didn’t seem to mind when Tycho smacked his shoulder as Hobbie had done earlier.

“I think Wedge was given that responsibility.” Hobbie looked a bit devious, not quite smiling, “That and all of the reports to keep him busy. I guess I lucked out on missing the official data work of command.”

“You know, one day I’ll command Rogue Squadron, and you’ll be my XO, Hobbie, just so I can make you do all of that data work.” Tycho nodded seriously, “I’ll even have you do all of the reports on Wes’s misdeeds since you’ll have the inside perspective on them.”

“I’m not worried. Wedge will never leave us, right Wedge?” Hobbie glanced at their commanding officer, “It would just be too mean to leave Tycho in charge.”

Wedge rolled his eyes, “I think I might retire one day just to be that mean to you.”

Wes was looking thoughtful, which caught their attention as they were waiting for his next play, and he opened his mouth to say something, closed it, and placed his bet instead.

“What?” Wedge kicked him under the table, “Spill it, Wes.”

“I’m going to be black and blue after this game, with the way you three are abusing me. I was just thinking, about what you said Luke was concerned about. We all know Tycho’s loss, but what loss was he referring to for Hobbie?” Wes was staring at Hobbie, concerned, “You’ve never said anything to me about a loss.”

Wedge looked to Hobbie for a moment, wondering if he had said too much, but Hobbie waved a hand dismissively. “It’s okay, it’s just that it was insignificant to what others were dealing with so I never felt the need to talk about it.”

“And now?” Wes really did know how to push.

“It’s just that when I defected there were people who took it a lot more personally than I intended. After I joined the Rebellion I went on a few missions with Biggs, lost a second limb.” He snorted, “Got sick on Yavin, and had a few months before I could try to send a message to my family on Ralltiir to let them know I was alive. When I heard back from my parents they told me that I didn’t need to bother visiting or contacting them again. That I no longer had a family.”

There was a moment of silence as the others absorbed that, and then Wes was slapping him on the back, “Their loss because you have us as family now and we’re the best.”

Hobbie nodded, slowly, but continued staring at the cards so he wouldn’t have to look at any of them. “At the risk of inflating your already huge ego, I’d have to agree.”

 


End file.
